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En route to danger
Nicole Johnston, Mail & Guardian (SA)
December 21, 2006

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=294249&area=/insight/insight__africa/

Save the Children UK (United Kingdom) conducted extensive research into the lives of child migrants in the region to produce the reports Visitors from Zimbabwe and Poverty Made This Decision for Me.

While there is significant child migration from countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique into South Africa, children also migrate to countries such as Mozambique and Botswana, either because they are perceived to have stronger economies or because they can be used as a springboard into South Africa.

The casual crossing of borders is often entrenched in communities which live close to international boundaries: it is not uncommon for Swazi children to cross the border daily to attend school in South Africa or for Zimbabweans to cross the border to buy bread from a shop in Mozambique, often closer than the nearest store on the Zimbabwean side of the border.

The migrant labour system has been a part of the region's consciousness for many generations and communities have seen workers come home from the cities with cars, fridges and televisions. This perpetuates the myth that the streets of the cities are paved with gold. It also makes migration seem like an achievable goal for children. The reality is often quite horribly different.

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